To the moon

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AuthorTopic: To the moon
Infiltrator
Member # 7298
Profile #0
NASA is planing on going back to the moon. China space program (CNSA) vows it can beat the US to the moon. Who do you think will win?

Poll Information
This poll contains 1 question(s). 22 user(s) have voted.
You may not view the results of this poll without voting.

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A rock has weight whether you admit it or not
Posts: 479 | Registered: Wednesday, July 12 2006 07:00
Guardian
Member # 2080
Profile #1
Doesn't matter, cause Japan already has lunar bases and shtuff. It's really suck for China, though, if they went to the moon, cause their space craft would be cut in half by a giant battle mech with an energy sword.

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"I don't understand a word you just said. Try speaking American. It's the only language I understand."
Posts: 1918 | Registered: Sunday, October 13 2002 07:00
Infiltrator
Member # 7298
Profile #2
was trying to be serious. I say the US becuase they already have the technolgy. The only thing against them is their commeinemt to the ISS. However NASA is researchhing alternate ways of meeting their commeinments to the ISS.

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A rock has weight whether you admit it or not
Posts: 479 | Registered: Wednesday, July 12 2006 07:00
Off With Their Heads
Member # 4045
Profile Homepage #3
quote:
Originally written by Lord Safey:

The only thing against them is their commeinemt to the ISS. However NASA is researchhing alternate ways of meeting their commeinments to the ISS.
That has got to be the weirdest mis-spelling of "commitment" I've ever seen. It's not even close. And it happened twice!

In other news, I have no idea, but I should, being an astro person and all. I am ashamed.

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Posts: 7968 | Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Law Bringer
Member # 2984
Profile Homepage #4
Astronomy? I thought your major was classical languages or something like that?

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Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00
Law Bringer
Member # 6785
Profile #5
Kel is both.

The US had the technology, but trying to get a new vehicle from design to useable condition is going to slow us down. China can afford to expend the effort to get there for prestige value. They don't care as much about cutting corners since they haven't lost any lives yet.
Posts: 4643 | Registered: Friday, February 10 2006 08:00
Shaper
Member # 7420
Profile Homepage #6
I believe the space program is a huge waste of time. I say if China wants to make themselves feel big by beating us at something, this would be one instance where I would just let them have it. I'd much rather beat them to discovering an alternative to oil, which is something they will surely want in the decades to come.

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You lose.
Posts: 2156 | Registered: Thursday, August 24 2006 07:00
Warrior
Member # 4537
Profile Homepage #7
The giant robot thing is serious. Haven't you heard of the Landwalker? They're already part of the way there.

How are you supposed to answer this question, though? The US already has an established infrastructure, but China's isn't exactly brand-new either, and both are ambitious. Many operations aren't revealed to the public. (I'm not just trying to shoot down the debate before it starts - if you have a way to figure this out, tell me.)

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Posts: 147 | Registered: Sunday, June 13 2004 07:00
Guardian
Member # 2080
Profile #8
Well, with thanks to the history channel(which I'm sure China's top members have seen at least some of), China has a pretty good idea of what they're getting into with the Space Program. Though, I doubt anyone will learn what German history can teach us about aeronautics and space travel. The US never did.

US Scientist #1: "Hey, let's go into space."
US Scientist #2: "Okay. How are we going to do it?"
US Scientist #3: "Rather than try to use what we know about physics to our advantage, we're instead going to build a big freakin' rocket, fill it with fuel, and send it straight up into space."
US Scientist #1 & #2: "Brilliant! Let's get started right away."

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"I don't understand a word you just said. Try speaking American. It's the only language I understand."
Posts: 1918 | Registered: Sunday, October 13 2002 07:00
Guardian
Member # 2238
Profile Homepage #9
quote:
Originally written by Emperor Tullegolar:

I believe the space program is a huge waste of time.
Yeah, because Earth will never be depleted of resources/space to live. Humans could stay here forever!

Terraform Mars, and I'll gladly be the first volunteer colonist.

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DEMON PLAY,
DEMON OUT!
Posts: 1582 | Registered: Wednesday, November 13 2002 08:00
Guardian
Member # 2080
Profile #10
I call dibs on being the head of the inevitable evil tyrant government of Mars.

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"I don't understand a word you just said. Try speaking American. It's the only language I understand."
Posts: 1918 | Registered: Sunday, October 13 2002 07:00
? Man, ? Amazing
Member # 5755
Profile #11
Yeah, no matter who wins the race to Mars, I hope both of you are on the first vehicle to that destination.

Bon voyage!

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quote:
Originally written by Kelandon:

Well, I'm at least pretty sure that Salmon is losing.


Posts: 4114 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00
Apprentice
Member # 3428
Profile Homepage #12
I think this one is actually a toss up... The majority of the US Space programs equipment is outdated with the exception of a few key pieces. [most of their "moon gear" anyway.] However, as stated, they've been researching new vehicles. [I hate that ****ty little one man glider than won their contest.] However, China actually has a huge pool of resources to draw from, including intellectual ones, I don't know how much experience they have in non-traditional space propulsion though.

Basically, its down to who can work their program the most efficiently... with an x-factor of "lets throw a bunch of old **** on a rocket" on both sides...

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Posts: 47 | Registered: Wednesday, September 3 2003 07:00
Lifecrafter
Member # 7331
Profile Homepage #13
The plans for the Apollo rockets have been lost. If someone asked NASA for a Saturn V heavy lifter, no one could do much, really. China may have one over the US here.

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Posts: 794 | Registered: Thursday, July 27 2006 07:00
Infiltrator
Member # 7298
Profile #14
Well from what I know NASA already has the plans they sent it out their various faclties across the US.

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A rock has weight whether you admit it or not
Posts: 479 | Registered: Wednesday, July 12 2006 07:00
Councilor
Member # 6600
Profile Homepage #15
Originally by demonslay3r:

quote:
Yeah, because Earth will never be depleted of resources/space to live. Humans could stay here forever!
Earth will run out of space and resources long before we have the technology to survive independently on Mars.

Dikiyoba.
Posts: 4346 | Registered: Friday, December 23 2005 08:00
Guardian
Member # 2080
Profile #16
As I vaguely implied in my last post. If you wanna figure out space travel, watch the History Channel. With some work, by the end of it, you'll have yourself a nice Russian/German-style battle tank/sub/plane/spacecraft combo thingy on the moon in no time.

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"I don't understand a word you just said. Try speaking American. It's the only language I understand."
Posts: 1918 | Registered: Sunday, October 13 2002 07:00
Shock Trooper
Member # 5545
Profile Homepage #17
I think the private sphere might actually have a shot. So... I'm backing no nation. But I'll think about which corporations are the most likely.

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Plaudite, amici, comedia finita est.
Posts: 344 | Registered: Friday, February 25 2005 08:00
Infiltrator
Member # 3441
Profile Homepage #18
I'm ashamed I don't know a lot off the top of my head about foreign space programs, but from what I can see, the ESA's current timeline calls for manned landing by 2024. NASA plans on landing in December 2019. I haven't seen anything to suggest that China has anything more than preliminary plans for a manned lunar mission. Could you give me any information about these plans?
Also, I'm skeptical of any plans for launches more than a year in the future. Scrubbed launches can pose major setbacks to a space program.
Also, Sarasaphilia, you are wrong about the plans for the Saturn V's being lost, where did you here that. It is true however, that there are not any working Saturn V's in service. The infrastructure and plans to create a Saturn V still exists, and indeed the Ares V planned for use in the Constellation Program uses a second stage rocket based on that of the Saturn V.

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"As our circle of knowledge expands, so does the circumference of darkness surrounding it." --Albert Einstein
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Posts: 536 | Registered: Sunday, September 7 2003 07:00
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
Profile #19
At the World's Fair in Hannover a few years ago, the Chinese pavilion was entirely about their upcoming moon mission. Its centerpiece was a single large room with a lunar rover in it, looking just like the old Apollo ones, except with a small PRC flag. It all gave me the feeling that they were excited about charging forward into the 1970s, and at the time all I could think was, Guys, haven't you heard? It's been done already. But they were clearly pretty keen.

The fact that the Chinese pavilion looked so out of date, because everything looked just like 30 year old Apollo gear, probably just meant that they were at such an early stage they didn't really know what their stuff would look like. Or that they're seriously planning on just copying everything, I guess. Anyway, I'm sure they'll get there, at some point before too long. They do seem to want it more than the US does.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Law Bringer
Member # 4153
Profile Homepage #20
I don't really care either way, unless they find oil up there.

Fix our planet before screwing up another.

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Posts: 4130 | Registered: Friday, March 26 2004 08:00
Shaper
Member # 7420
Profile Homepage #21
quote:
Originally written by demonslay3r:

Yeah, because Earth will never be depleted of resources/space to live. Humans could stay here forever!

Terraform Mars, and I'll gladly be the first volunteer colonist.
It will never be cost effective to send either resources or people between other worlds and earth. Why do you think we don't even dump all our toxic waste into space? Nothing short of the total annihilation of the the planet itself (as in by Death Star) will make colonization of other worlds worthwile.

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You lose.
Posts: 2156 | Registered: Thursday, August 24 2006 07:00
Infiltrator
Member # 7298
Profile #22
I disagree 60 years ago it wasn't cost effective for every american to have a computer in his/her home now it is. Why the technolgy was developed. Is space cost efftice not really can it be come cost effitive if we reearch the technolgy yes it can.

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A rock has weight whether you admit it or not
Posts: 479 | Registered: Wednesday, July 12 2006 07:00
Warrior
Member # 6401
Profile #23
At the moment it still isn't cost-effective for everyone to have a computer in their home. Most of the energy and resources that go into manufacturing and powering those computers comes from non-renewable resources. Many computers contain toxic metals and chemicals which are very harmful to the environment when the computers become obsolete and are landfilled, as most are. As it is, computers are not cost-effective, they're just costly.

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I think this is really wonderful.
Posts: 147 | Registered: Tuesday, October 18 2005 07:00
Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
Profile #24
It won't be cost effective to have people living on Mars, until there are a bunch of people living on Mars. Then they will find it cost effective to survive. Eventually people will live well there, I believe. It will in some ways be radically different from the colonization of the Americas by Europeans, but in some ways similar.

Until that take-off point, colonizing Mars will be a huge expense of resources for negligible material reward. It will be an enormous cultural monument, the greatest in history. But I think we'll do it, probably within a century. (Not to the level of terraforming, of course, but just maintaining a dome base or something.) We won't do it for any good reason, but just because we can. Taxpayers will vote for it, as a luxury they want to buy at an average of ten or a hundred bucks per head per year, and it will happen.

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We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty.
Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00

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